Beck's Well Wishes
by AmbyrRose
Summary: What if Cat hadn't just been acting? What if, right after the play, she'd really gotten stuck in a well?  Bat, some Bade with a mention of Tandré.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"Come on, guys! Catch me if you can!"

Cat skipped away in front of them, chasing a very unwilling mockingbird impressively fast in her high heels. With her hair tossed up in a high ponytail and her light sweater, she looked as out-of-place in the cold winter field as a bird of paradise in the Arctic.

"I still say it would have been easier to just buy a leash and take her to the park," Jade said flatly.

Beck sighed. "Babe, be nice."

"I'm just saying it's gonna be a bit awkward, don't you think, just you and me and _her_?"

"I already told you, Tori and André were going to come, but they couldn't make it, and Robbie had to take Rex on a date." There was a whole other conversation in that last part, but neither of them chose to pursue it.

"Still . . ."

"Babe, it's Cat, okay? Give it a rest."

She sighed, but didn't say anything. She couldn't really complain, after all. This whole date was her idea – a dinner picnic and a drive-in movie, to celebrate the last day of winter break. It had been a fairly mild December, and after two weeks of nothing some Frisbee sounded great. André had suggested the old field on the outskirts of Altadena, saying that he used to take his dog out for exercise. Of course, then he and Tori had to go fall in love and break off for some time alone. And then there was Robbie and Rex . . . but really, there was only so much to say about Robbie's psychological issues.

"So, where do you want to park this?" he asked, hefting the cooler.

"André said there was a picnic table right over by those trees," Jade said, pointing. "I think that's the place. We better hurry, though, it's getting kind of cold and we don't want to miss the previews."

"Ooh! Can I carry the food?" Cat asked brightly, taking her eyes off the bird for the first time in a good five minutes. Beck handed it over and she took off again, lugging the giant cooler behind her. The picnic tables were farther away than they thought, and by the time they got there they could barely see the truck anymore. Cat was still darting around like a spaniel, chasing anything shiny – including a reflection from Jade's necklace. Beck could feel Jade's impatience mounting.

"I swear if I don't _end_ her by the time we get to the movies, it'll be a miracle," she hissed as she slammed herself down at a table.

Beck prayed for patience as Cat shrieked with delight at seeing something in the ground. "Please, _please_, all I'm asking is that you put up with her until the movie's over and then maybe we can –"

There was a scream, and the ground underneath them shook. Beck spun around – just in time to see Cat teeter on the edge of a gaping chasm and tumble backward.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Oh, God – _Cat!_" Beck rushed forward with Jade, skidding to a halt at the edge of the hole. "Cat, can you hear me?"

There was a terrible, heart-stopping moment of silence, and then a small voice echoed from the darkness. "Ow." He heard water, and something splashing around in it. "Um –hello . . . ? Beck? Jade? It's really dark down here."

Cold dread and warm relief battled in him. "Yeah, Cat, we're up here. What happened? Where are you?"

Unbelievably, she actually started to giggle. "I think it's a well." More giggles, slightly hysterical now. "What are the odds, right? I'm _stuck_ in a _well_. That's called . . ." The giggles stopped as she thought hard. "Well, I don't remember, but it's something that means funny." She sniffed. "Except the one in Jade's play smelled better."

"Ah, shh . . ." Beck turned away, running his hand through his hair. When he was capable of speaking without swearing, he turned back to look down. Sure enough, he could barely make out a smudge of red-velvet-cupcake hair at the bottom. "Do you have your phone?"

"Well, _yeah_."

He waited a minute. "Mind taking it out so we can see you?"

"Kay-kay!" She whipped out her Pear-phone – a tiny square of light in the inky black. Between that and the hazy twilight, it was clear she was covered in filth and dirt, but no obvious injuries. "Aw, no signal."

He could see her face just well enough to picture her wide-eyed pout. "S'okay, I got it."

"No you don't."

He whipped around. He'd almost forgotten Jade was there. "Why not?"

She was holding her cell over her head, wide-eyed. "Because there's no signal out here, I've been searching since she fell!"

"Are you kidding me? Why didn't you mention this earlier?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, next time I'll gaze into my crystal ball to see if Cat's going to fall into a freak underground well and make sure I've got coverage there, just in case –"

"Helloooo!" For the first time in at least three weeks, Cat sounded slightly annoyed. "It's really wet down here!"

Beck broke away from Jade's hot glare. "How wet?"

"Like . . ." Shuffling and sloshing from below. "Little past my knees. But it's kinda hard to stand up 'cause the bottom's slippery, so I'm gonna – _oomph!_" _Thud_. "Sit back down now." She let out a gasp. "Oh no, the food's all wet, I think it's ruined. I'm so, so sorry!"

Beck rubbed his temples, trying to think. "It's all right, it's all right. Jade, you head back for the truck and call . . ." He trailed off. Who do you call when a girl's trapped in a hole in the ground? The fire department? An ambulance? "911, anyway, when you get a signal and then keep driving until you find someone who might be able to help. What?" he added irritably as he realized her stare was bordering on incredulous.

"You want _me_ to go? What, and leave you alone with Little Miss Cupcake down there?"

"Jade, she's a good ten feet below, I don't think you've got any cause to worry –"

"So what, now I'm not allowed to 'worry' when I'm leaving my boyfriend alone with another girl –"

"Jade! Good God, just _go_!"

She crossed her arms, fixing him with her patented look. The look that had sent harder men than him groveling to their knees. "I say you go. It is your car."

He crossed his arms back. "I'm. Staying. Here."

She seemed slightly stunned for a moment. "Fine. Fine. You know what? I'll go. But if I go, we're done. That's the deal."

He couldn't resist snorting. "What, done like last time?"

Jade West actually turned scarlet. "No, done for good. Finished. Over. Through. Forever. Is that what you want?" He stared back at her stonily, not saying a word. "All right. Good. I don't want a guy who would choose _that_ over me anyway." And she stalked away before Beck could throw her down the well, too.

"Wait – did Jade leave?" Cat asked anxiously, as if she hadn't heard the exchange.

Beck sighed. "Yeah. She went to go get help. Just hang in there – are you warm enough?"

"Yeah, but the water's really cold, so tell her to hurry, 'kay?"

He felt a lump rising in his throat. "'Kay."

There was a moment of silence, and then a splashing sound as Cat leaned back. "You know, if look up at the opening just right, it kinda looks like a butterfly . . ."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Time crawled. The sun strained to touch the horizon. Every couple minutes Beck would call down to ask how she was doing, and each answer was more subdued than the last.

"Oh, I'm fine, just a little hungry. Do you think there'll still be restaurants open when I get out of here?"

"I'm okay, but I scraped my arm when I fell."

"M'fine. Phone battery just died . . . it's dark."

"The water's getting colder."

He noticed. He could feel the wind picking up as the sun sank behind the trees. Soon enough, he'd be able to see his breath. What kind of weather was this? Why had it suddenly gotten so cold?

"It's okay," she reassured him, as if she'd heard his thoughts. "I like cold. I like red-velvet cupcakes, too. And I like napping under a tree on a sunny day. I like my automatic juicer I bought from Sky Store. I like puppies with wiggly tails. I like my brother, when he doesn't eat things that aren't food. I like pink nail polish and pink-frosted cookies. I like listening to birds sing and singing back. I like swinging on my swing set. I like catching fireflies on summer nights. What about you?"

That caught him by surprise. "Oh . . . well . . . I like –"

"I bet you like playing your guitar on your RV roof," she said decisively. "And I bet you like your boots. And you like chocolate – dark chocolate, like, not too sweet or anything. You like the beach at high tide, when the waves are big and scary. You like the smell of old leather, and oranges too. And I bet you like watching fireflies, just like me."

Wow. Did she have him pegged or what? "How did you . . . ?"

"Oh, you've always been easy to read, Beck, silly." She giggled, although the effect was ruined as a violent chill racked her body.

Jade couldn't read him. André, his best friend, couldn't read him. Heck, his own mother still couldn't read him, still didn't know what was going on in his mind. He was too complicated, too mysterious, too sophisticated.

At least he thought so, until this simple, uncomplicated girl who loved red-velvet cupcakes and fireflies saw right through him.

He smiled a little, despite the sick feeling creeping into his stomach as she shivered. "Tell you what. You get out of there, and on the first week of May you and I can make pink-frosted cookies and sing and play guitar on the roof of my RV while we wait for the fireflies. Just you and me. That sound good?"

"Ooh, yes," she squealed. And as he sat there, listening to her hum "Give It Up" softly, his overloaded brain only had room for one more thought:

_Did I, Beck Oliver, seriously just offer to make pink-frosted cookies with Cat Valentine?_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Jade still wasn't back, and the sun had completely disappeared, leaving only a streak of copper behind. Beck was sitting at the edge of the hole, coatless, fists clenched in his lap. His coat had followed Cat down the hole about an hour ago, wrapped around her thin shoulders as she shivered violently. He'd tossed his phone down, too, cursing himself for not thinking of it before. She clutched it in both hands, punching random buttons like her life depended on it each time the little square of light dimmed.

"Are they here yet?" she asked sleepily.

Beck wished Sinjin was there. He felt like punching something. "No, not yet. Just – just try to hold on," he said, for at least the sixtieth time.

"Kay-kay." Her usually chipper voice was more of a whimper. "Are you cold up there without your jacket?"

If he was, he hadn't noticed it. "Never better – you?"

"Been better." She sneezed, and her voice got suddenly stronger. "Omigod, did you hear that? What if I get sick? What if I catch a cold? Oh, Sikowitz is gonna be mad . . ."

"You're not gonna catch a cold, Cat." Hypothermia, maybe. Not a cold. "Besides, you know Sikowitz. Buy him a dozen coconuts and some crazy straws and he'll be fine."

Her giggle was a shadow of its former self. She lapsed into silence, and the phone went dark.

Beck Oliver had endured his parents screaming at each other, his older brother leaving in the middle of the night, living on his own in an oversized sardine can for near five years, and now his girlfriend walking away because he refused to leave a friend in a well. But he couldn't endure the silence.

"Cat? Talk to me, babe."

The "babe" had slipped out before he could stop himself, but if she noticed she didn't comment. "Umm . . . I'm still kinda hungry, so having hair like a red velvet cupcake doesn't help. I like it, though. So does my brother." Pause. "No seriously, he tried to eat it once."

Beck managed a snort. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"Dunno." He heard her yawn, and from the faintest light emitted by his phone saw her cover her mouth daintily with pink-painted nails. "Hey, Beck? Are you sorry Jade broke up with you?"

Crap. He hadn't thought she'd heard. "Well . . . sort of. Sort of sorry I didn't end it myself, really. Like I told Tori last time, what has Jade ever done for me?" He struggled to shut himself up, but the doubts he'd forced down for a long while were bubbling to the surface. "I don't know, she always said she loved me – and I loved her, but I didn't always . . . like her, I guess. If that makes sense. And she didn't always like me."

"Oh." She considered that for a moment. "_I_ like you."

He swallowed hard. His hands were shaking. "Thanks. I like you too."

"Hey, Beck?"

"Yeah, Cat?"

"My arm still hurts where I scratched it. When I get out, will you kiss it and make it better?"

His heart swelled. "Yeah, Cat," he said, clearing his throat as his voice broke. "I promise."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Beck was almost asleep, dozing while sitting up, when he heard the sirens. They were dull at first, creeping into his ear and irritating his half-asleep dreams, but they grew louder and louder until he shook himself awake, looking around.

Blazing white lights at the edge of the field . . . Could it be . . . ?

He threw up his hands as the lights blinded him. Sirens wailed in his ears, and he staggered to his feet as the fire truck screeched to a halt. Bulked-up men began to pile out of the doors, leaving the lights and the sirens blaring. Not long after, an ambulance pulled up beside them

"She's down there!" Beck shouted to anyone who would listen. "The ground caved in – we think it's a well! Hurry up, she's freezing!"

"Miss?" one called down to her. "Can you stand up?"

"I think so."

He waited. "Will you stand up?"

"Kay-kay." There was a rather unladylike grunt, and a heavy _splash_. "Uh-oh. I can't feel my legs. I think that's bad, right?"

Absolute panic surged through Beck. "Holy crap, she only weighs like ninety pounds! Get a rope around her and haul her up!"

This particular outburst got him yanked over to the fire truck by a firefighter shaped like a refrigerator, but it was worth it. A rope was lowered, and she was instructed to tie it around her waist so they could finally, _finally_ pull her up.

As Cat was struggling with a simple knot, someone pointedly cleared their throat, and Beck tore his eyes away long enough to see Jade leaning against the truck. Awkward silence settled around them.

"I thought you weren't coming," Beck said softly

Jade's eyes flashed. "What, you thought I would just leave her there to rot, did you?"

"Jade –"

"I nearly did," she admitted, the fire fading. "I drove around a lot first. But . . . but just because you're delusional enough that she makes you happy doesn't mean she has to suffer for it, right?"

Anyone who hadn't known Jade like Beck did would have at least rolled their eyes. But he heard four words, hidden under characteristic scorn: _she makes you happy_. And, for Jade at least, that was a blessing of sorts. "Thank you."

She shrugged. "Just don't expect me to hang around and watch. I hear there's a new senior with a motorcycle." She bit her lip. "Bye, Beck."

"Bye, Jade." She turned and began the long trek back across the field. Too late, he thought of something. "Hey, wait –"

"I'll leave the truck in your driveway," she called without looking back. "You can hitch a ride home from the fire guys, so get over it."

And he had to smile.

"_Beck!_"

Cat – _Cat_ – was visible over the edge of the chasm, grubby and wet, her eyes huge and bright. The firefighters swarmed around her, effortlessly lifting her up. Surrounded by such bulky men, shakily trying to regain her balance, she looked like a newborn foal surrounded by mustangs. She didn't have much chance to rebalance herself, though, before Beck had swept her off her feet.

"_Cat!_ You're okay, thank God, thank God . . ."

But before she could do anything but squeal in delight, the EMTs were pulling her away, forcing her onto a gurney, shining a pencil light in her eyes, wrapping a blanket around her slim shoulders and forcing hot chocolate down her throat.

"Check for concussion," one of them muttered, and the other nodded.

"Miss? What's your favorite color?"

Uh-oh. Wrong question – these people didn't know Cat. "Yellow!" she said brightly, but her brow instantly clouded over. "But I do like purple. And red. And I don't want pink feeling left out, because pink things tend to be emotional, and I don't want blue to feel ugly or insecure or anything –"

Beck clapped the bewildered EMT on the back. "It's okay, she's kind of special. I got this one." He looked at Cat. "Where do you go to school?"

"Hollywood Arts, of course!"

"And who's your favorite teacher?"

"Sikowitz. He's really nice and funny, only he drinks too much coconut milk and sometimes I wonder if he doesn't have a problem . . ."

"And who am I?"

She looked at him in mild concern. "Beck Oliver, silly. Are you feeling okay?"

The tension in his chest left with his laugh. "See? She's fine."

The EMTs looked unconvinced, but decided to let it go. Muttering something about helping the firemen picket off the hole, they left, and Beck settled down on the gurney next to Cat.

She was suddenly unable to look him in the eye. "Thanks for staying with me," she said shyly.

He didn't answer. "Give me your arm."

"What?"

"Your arm. Give it to me."

She looked confused, but complied. He brushed the blanket away from the long, narrow bandage and kissed it softly, his lips barely touching it. She squeaked, turning the exact shade of her hair. "You remembered!"

"'Course I did. I promised. Anywhere else hurt?"

She thought for a moment and then pointed to her opposite elbow. He took it gently and kissed it too. She thought, and pointed to her shoulder. He was smiling as he kissed it. She thought, and pointed to her cheek. Even covered in a thin coat of dust, it tasted so sweet.

As he wrapped his arms around her, she thought and pointed to her lips.

She tasted like sunshine, the one brain cell that was still working decided. Sweeter than spring, like frosting on a sugar cookie. Like a red-velvet cupcake on a summer's day.

He would have laughed with sheer joy, but his mouth was a little busy at the moment.


End file.
